Section 2AA preview: Young Edina roster already has come of age

Burnsville sophomore Tyler Sheehy ranks among the leading scorers for the Blaze with more than 40 points. Photo by Helen Nelson

The common refrain when high school hockey fanatics get to talking about Edina is, "Watch out. They are going to be great in a couple of years."

That might be true, but here’s the thing: The Hornets are great now.

Amazingly, the No. 4-ranked Hornets (20-5-0) are winning with en exceedingly un-Edina-like two seniors on its roster.

Two seniors!

The Hornets suffered four of their five losses to two of the state’s highest regarded teams, losing twice each to No. 2-ranked Minnetonka and No. 3 Maple Grove.

Behind the stellar play of freshman Dylan Malmquist (23-21--44) and sophomore Connor Hurley (22-26--48), the Hornets feature two of the state’s highest scoring underclassmen. While Edina doesn’t get a lot of scoring from its other forward lines, it hasn’t needed the added production.

Malmquist and Hurley, who always seem to be thinking two passes ahead, have rarely been shut down this season. They each have registered at least one point in 14 of their last 15 games.

Consistent scoring from The Kid Line combined with the Hornets’ shutdown defense led by veterans Parker Reno (2-8--10) and Matt Nelson (3-9-12) and workhorse goaltender Willie Benjamin (15-5-0, 2.26, .917) equates to a winning formula.

No. 2 seed Burnsville (15-9-1) seemed to have its chemistry mastered in early season wins over Benilde-St. Margaret’s and Hill-Murray, but a midseason swoon raised doubts about the Blaze’s playoff staying power. Burnsville, however, finished strong and is the popular choice to meet Edina in the section championship.

No. 3 Prior Lake (15-10-0) hasn’t quite reached elite program status, but the Lakers would seem to be on the verge of a state tournament breakthrough. They beat highly regarded Wayzata and swept longtime section power in the regular season, but was swept in two lopsided outcomes by rival Burnsville.

No. 4 Bloomington Jefferson (6-16-3) had its lowest win total in several seasons while playing one of the state’s toughest schedules but appeared to be gaining speed at season’s end. The Jaguars gave taste of their playoff potential by beating top 10-ranked Wayzata and rallying to tie top five-fixture Eagan.

All No. 5 Chanhassen (20-4-1) and scoring machine Connor Kelly (38-19--57) did this season was win 20 games and snatch the Missota Conference crown from Holy Angels, which had won the previous 13 league championships.

Speaking of Holy Angels (10-12-2), the No. 6-seeded Stars were once the state’s dominant program but struggled this season after losing several top players to junior teams and other high school programs.

Hub Prediction

Edina won a state championship two seasons ago with more senior leadership and big-game experience but less star power and pure goal scorers. Beyond that, the goaltending and defense is comparable this year to 2010. What does it all mean? It will take a monumental upset to deny the Hornets a sixth straight state tournament bid.

Bracket Buster

Rarely does a 20-win team receive the No. 5 seed and open the playoffs on the road. Such is life for Chanhassen, which will have a Zamboni-sized chip on its shoulder when it squares off against Bloomington Jefferson. It should be noted the Storm ended the longest run of conference dominance in state history when it won the Missota Conference, ending Holy Angels' 13-year reign at the top.

In the latest Talking Preps podcast, staff writers David La Vaque and Jim Paulsen ruminate about a memorable championship Saturday of volleyball, football semifinal match-ups at U.S. Bank Stadium and the start of two anniversary seasons of hockey.